Born: Zwevegem, Belgium, March 26, 1826
Took the habit: N.-D. de l’Osier, July 24, 1847
Vows: N.-D. de l’Osier, July 25, 1848 (No.202)
Priestly ordination: Ottawa, January 18, 1852
Left the Congregation: 1871.
Died: Beveren, Belgium, January 15, 1898.
François Coopman was born in Zwevegem, Belgium, on March 26, 1826. His parents were Augustin Jacobus Coopman, farmer, and Marie Jozefa Maes. He studied in the minor seminary of Roulers, Western Flanders, from 1840 to 1847 and entered the novitiate in Notre Dame de l’Osier on July 24, 1847. He took vows there on July 25, 1848. He had been admitted to vows in the general council meeting of the previous July 15. The following comment was made in the minutes of the council: “As for Brother Coopman, one of Father Léonard’s recruits, he also comes with excellent notes. He has more than sufficient talent, solid piety, good character, robust health and absolute dedication to the society.”
He spent two years with the scholastics in the major seminary of Marseilles (1848-1850) and, in September 1850 he was sent to Maryvale to finish his theology and “to study English which is so necessary for the foreign missions.” He received his obedience for Canada in 1851, spent one year in the college in Ottawa and Bishop Guigues ordained him to the priesthood on January 18, 1852.
Father Coopman ministered in L’Orignal in 1852-1853, in South Gloucester in 1853-1855, in Saint Joseph, Burlington, Vermont, in 1855-1856, in Saint-Pierre-Apôtre, Montreal, 1857-1858, in Saint-Sauveur, Quebec, 1858-1860. He visited the missions on the north bank of the Saint Lawrence in 1858, was pastor in Saint Joseph, Ottawa, 1860-1862, then in the parish of Holy Angels, Buffalo, New York, 1862-1865.
On June 4, 1862, he asked to return to England, saying that he was “disgusted with the Province of Canada.” In 1863 he made a move to obtain a dispensation from his vows. An entry in the minutes of the general council on November 13, 1863 states: “This subject is pious, a good priest, somewhat narrow minded, he is a good subject. It has been decided that an effort would be made to bring him back to his vocation.” He was in Liverpool in 1865-1871 and then he left the Congregation. On June 17, 1871, he wrote to Father Fabre from Rome to let him know that he had requested a dispensation from the Roman authorities. On September 2, he gave as the motivation of his departure: “The spirit of charity towards one another leaves much to be desired in the Oblates and if you have to regret the loss of a number of members you need not fear to be mistaken by attributing it to that cause; as for myself I was truly unhappy in the Congregation because of the lack of a spirit of charity and I was so unhappy that my health suffered.” In the general council meeting of September 8, his case was examined and he was refused a letter of recommendation for incardination to a diocese in Belgium because “he had left the Congregation without notice, without a motive and of his own accord.”
In a letter dated October 19, 1871, the bishop of Bruges asked Father Fabre for his opinion with regard to the recourse to Rome. Father Fabre replied on October 24 that the man had no reason for that recourse. He recognized nevertheless, that he “had a character which made community life difficult” and that a discontented subject is more harmful than useful.
Father Coopman wrote once again to Father Fabre on October 2, 1873, asking if he would allow him to come back into the Congregation and if he would support his request to Rome for a dispensation. He died in Beveren, Belgium, on January 15, 1898.
Yvon Beaudoin
and Gaston Carrière, o.m.i.
